Funny that just as I’m about to write a story about the Capitol Corridor’s triumph over our limited railway network, nearly doubling its service to San Jose and adding more trips to Sacramento, I get a call from someone who’s less than pleased with the service.

In the corridor’s defense, he’s not a regular rider, but this one-time experience was a doozy.

David Francis of Wooster, Ohio, was visiting his mom in Oakland in July when he agreed to send his 15-year-old daughter to see Read the rest of this entry »

Ok. It’s late. I missed my regular train on account of a poorly synchronized tavern clock, and had to take the late train. Im tired and a Bay Bridge story Ive been working on for weeks deprived me of the chance to write about how a $2.9 million security grant for BART might be spent.

So that leaves me with car sharing.

I received an e-mail recently from City CarShare inviting me to blog about their by-the-hour, keyless and paperless car rental service is a great way to avoid the hassles of the Labor Day weekend Bay Bridge lower deck closure. While they can be expected to promote their product no matter what, I believe theyve got a valid Read the rest of this entry »

Ken Gosting is a Yosemite institution. From his home in Midpines, he monitors major events in the park, such as the rockslide blocking one of the park’s three ways in, and transmits the news to media outlets in the Bay Area with remarkable reliability.

Call me parochial, but while it is sometimes interesting to hear how hard it is to get to the park, it’s not something the Bay Area transportation grid couldn’t Read the rest of this entry »

I was heartened to learn recently that one of CCs avid readers and de-facto editors doesnt commute any farther than his den each day. Talk about the sound of one hand clapping. Telecommuting is the Nirvana (spiritually, not musically) of the transportation universe. Highway maintenance, subway crime, bus service subsidies — all these problems would go away if everybody would just Read the rest of this entry »

Being a commuter student, I never had to worry about not having a car. No, parking was my big problem, and it dogged me until I got a coveted sticker to the lot behind the dining hall where the student newspaper kept its offices.

But Flexcar, one of the area’s three car-sharing services, is going to solve that problem for students at U.C. Berkeley later this month. They’re going to become the first car-sharing service to offer membership to drivers under 21.